Hamilton by the Numbers

Value of Building Permits

City of Hamilton – (CDN Dollars)

In 2023, the City of Hamilton issued building permits valued at $2,550,392,065. These permit values are the highest annual building permit values in the City of Hamilton’s history. The 2023 permit values are approximately 137.4% of 2022’s permit values and 119.8% of 2021’s formerly record breaking building permit values.

Employment by Sector

Hamilton CMA – 2022 & 2023

Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey reports on the number of people who are employed in the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). Annual data from 2023 reports that there were there were 414,000 employed residents in the Hamilton CMA. This figure is down 1.1% from 2022, and is within 0.2% of the 2019’s pre-pandemic benchmark of 414,800 employed individuals.

Business Counts

City of Hamilton (CSD)

As of December 2022, Hamilton was home to approximately 16,348 businesses (including registered charities and not-for-profit organizations) with employees. Approximately 56.0% of Hamilton’s employers employ fewer than four people, and 75.0% of employers employ nine or fewer people. There are approximately 37,111 businesses operating without employees (i.e. establishments providing self-employment) in Hamilton.

Monthly Unemployment Rate (%) in the Hamilton CMA and Ontario

December 2023 ended with the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area’s unemployment rate at a seasonally unadjusted 4.9%. This figure decreased considerably from the 6.4% reported at the end of Q3 2023, and was also a decrease from the previous month’s unemployment rate of 5.1%. Ontario finished 2023 with an unemployment rate of 5.5%. This level of unemployment was a decrease from the 5.9% observed at the end of Q3 2023 and was unchanged from the previous month.

Monthly Employment Rate (%) in the Hamilton CMA and Ontario

December 2023 ended with the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area’s employment rate at a seasonally unadjusted 60.9%. This figure increased from the 60.0% reported at the end of Q3 2023, and was also a slight increase over the previous month’s employment rate of 60.8%. Ontario finished 2023 with an employment rate of 60.8%. The December employment rate decreased from the 61.3% observed at the end of Q3 2023 and also decreased from the 61.4% reported in the previous month.

Monthly Participation Rate (%) in the Hamilton CMA and Ontario

December 2023 ended with the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area’s participation rate at a seasonally unadjusted 64.1%. This figure decreased slightly from the 64.2% reported at the end of Q3 2023, and was unchanged from the previous month’s participation rate. Ontario finished 2023 with a participation rate of 64.3%. The December participation rate decreased from the 65.1% observed at the end of Q3 2023 and also decreased from the 65.0% reported in the previous month.

Annual Real Estate Sales

(# of units)

Annual Housing Starts

Data for the Hamilton Census Division (CD) from the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation reflect very slight decrease (-0.1%) in housing starts between 2022 and 2023. However, compared to 2019’s pre-pandemic benchmark, 2023’s housing starts reflect a 39.7% increase.

Average Daily Rate – ADR